The Leafen Rebellion
by MKTerra
Summary: Naruto is depressed with the recent events in Konoha. He decides to take some time off to research his mother's family. But before that, a massive responsibility is hucked onto his shoulders. Lost interest. Up for adoption.
1. Chapter 1: Depression

AN: Howdy, y'all! MK_Terra here with his first fanfic! Hooray for me! I Deserve a cookie!

Anyway, I don't have a beta, nor am I going to use the japanese names for Jutsus. Also, the filler arcs actually happened in this fic. This will also be a NaruXAnko fic unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Okay, let's get the show on the road! I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. These are properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Shonen Jump and are not to be reproduced for anything other than personal entertainment reasons, not monetary gains.

Chapter One: Council in the Land of Iron

The council of Kages in the Land of Iron was in full swing, the Raikage having lost his temper several times and smashing the table, much like a certain blonde boobzilla that we all know and love. The Godaime Mizukage's personal guard had used his acquired Byakugan to scan Danzo to see if he could discern any lies from the bandaged old fart. Instead, he noticed something else.

_Is that... A sharingan? That could only belong to one man!_

"Hokage-sama, if I may be so bold to ask, would you uncover your right eye for all of us?"

_Hmph. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later, but this will inconvenience me and my plans for it to be revealed here..._

The old warhawk Danzo, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha kept a face of neutrality, with a slight glimpse of mirth, but inwardly, he was frantically trying to come up with a plan to get out of this hole he unknowingly dug for himself. He finally looked up and addressed the patch-eyed escort of Mifune, the Godaime Mizukage.

"Fine, but only if you remove that eyepatch for us." He said.

"There is no need. It is a Byakugan eye that I acquired in a fight as a battle trophy. I also recognise that chakra network in that Sharingan eye that you have covered up." Danzo's visible eye widened, but regained his cool. The other Kages listened and watched intently.

"Hm. Pray tell me then, whom does it seem to belong to?" Danzo said back.

"Right now, you. However, that particular chakra network I saw in Shisui Uchiha, whom I fought some time ago. His sharingan eye had mind control capabilities, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you have the Mizukage under it's influence!!!" He yells back. A collective gasp was heard among the kages around the newly replaced table that was brought when the camera was focused on one of the two men. Gaara took this moment to speak up.

"Danzo, what happened to Tsunade-sama during Pain's invasion? And why haven't you brought Naruto along? This does concern him, being the last Jinkuurichi and from what reports have told, the one who killed Pain." Gaara leaned forward and folded his hands under his chin. "I may be young, but I know enough that if Naruto were here, he would easily be able to defeat any single one of us in a fight, not to mention that he knows how the Akatsuki operates."

The Raikage's eyes widened at Gaara's words. _That brat who was grovelling in front of me not too long ago killed Pain? This would have been nice to know earlier!_

"Well, Hokage-_sama_?" Gaara's steely gaze never faltered during his mini-interrogation, and Danzo wasn't in happy-time-sunshine-land from the questions either.

"It IS true that he defeated Pain. He also killed Kakuzu as well." Danzo was not happy. Nope. Not. One. Bit. "And is the current toad sage. And I know that Tsunade herself chose him as her successor, but the council and I overrode that, fearing that one who was taught under such sappy and peace loving fool as Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake, who were taught by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze, respectively, would endanger the well being of the village by making it's shinobi and policies too soft."

"Interesting, Danzo. But you have not answered Kazekage-sama's other question." The leader of the land of Iron says.

"I was going to address that issue next. I will not allow him to leave Konoha, due to the danger that he may be in from the true leader of the Akatsuki, Madara Uchiha, and the remaining Akatsuki." He closed his eyes and continued. "And as much as I detest him, he is an official hero now and his presence in Konoha is a huge boost for the morale of our shinobi forces."

The Raikage decided to add his bit to the conversation.

"Well, it looks like the brat doesn't really care to listen to you, does he?" This got Danzo's attention quickly. "I spoke with him not a few hours ago, he begged me to not hunt down that missing nin that captured Killer Bee, Sasuke Uchiha. He told me about the cycle of hate and war that his death would create. I agree with his words, but I will still kill the bastard that defeated my brother!"

-----To be continued-----

AN, Part Deux: Yeah, short. I know. Call a Waaambulance, but I gots crap to do, and I threw this cliffy out because it seemed to fit. I know I SHOULD know the names of the two who I failed to utter their names for, but I forgot them.

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2: Depression Part Deux

AN: well howdy damn doo!!! MK_Terra here with his usual bout of nonsense and general ability to cause discord and havoc and blah blah blah... Sorry for the time it hath taken for me to pop this chapter out. Been obsessed with Shin Megami Tensei Imagine lately and it has been sucking up a lot of my time. My name is Somaru on there if you wanna find me sometime, and talk about nerd crap.

BTW, was there not enough to review other than "can't wait to see how this develops?" Eesh... but I was surprised at the number of favorite story alerts, and favorite authors, and story alerts. Need to clean those outta my mailbox... And I was expecting flames like nuts! Can someone just randomly add one to their normal review, so I can warm myself up? Summer is ending here, 'n it's starting to get chilly again... need the delicious heat... Mmm.... Yummy! Anyway, this chapter is going to be a lot longer than the last one, which was a bit of a recap and a prologue at the same time. In future reviews however, please refer to my character portrayal, as that is very important to me in these kinds of things.

Okay, let's get the show on the road!

I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. These are properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Shonen Jump and are not to be reproduced for anything other than personal entertainment reasons, not monetary gains.

Chapter 2: Schemes and Depression

Danzo is sitting in the hokage's chair, contemplating what happened two weeks ago at the Kage's summit.

_Hm... The summit didn't quite go the way I had expected... The intervention of Sasuke Uchiha did let me avoid those questions... However... The repercussions of me becoming Hokage are becoming much more apparent... I was wrong, this wasn't as easy as I had planned. I must deal with the dissident factions of Konoha who support Naruto Uzumaki... Along with the boy himself... _

The bandaged war hawk turned and looked out the window, cupping his chin trying to come up with the solution that will end up in his favor.

_Naruto Uzumaki is endlessly loyal to Konoha, and there are many who wish to support him as the successor to Tsunade, mainly the ninja clans and those whom have always been firm believers in the Fourth's wish that he be treated as a hero. The opinion of many a civillian has changed, but not enough, which would be my supporters, including the Fire Daimyo. What can I do to get them out of the way without truly getting rid of them...?_

Danzo was deep in thought. He noticed a mission request from Wave Country and hatched an idea that would make his others seem like cotton ball soup!

_That's it... I have it! _

Danzo smirked before looking at the rest of the paperwork and then frowned in disgust.

"Paperwork... Now I know why Tsunade always fell asleep when doing this... I feel sleepy myself... How did Sarutobi manage to do this without pounding his forehead into the desk?"

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Meanwhile, in a relatively unharmed section of Konoha, our blonde headed hero was doing something that was horribly unyouthful, according to a spandex wearing Taijutsu master.

"Hic... C'mon.... Shend nuhver wun..... hic.... 'ow oo-eye 'et nu... nu... nuhver.... Drinksh..... hic.... v tur.... boozhe.... damm... Shosh-gay.... gedd'n... y'self killerz... hic!"

Bottles of sake can be seen strewn about the blonde ninja. A sad sight for anyone who saw him fight Pain....

"Baaw-cha-hic!!! Why'd ya havv ta kick it? Goddamm...." He bawled.

"Uzumaki-sama, I think you've had enough... We know Godaime-sama would not be happy if she saw you like this... Her passing was a horrible tragedy, but you cannot let yourself fall to pieces like this!"

Naruto gave him a half lidded, sleepy-eyed glare that would have been threatening were he able to keep his eyes from crossing.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want! Shurr, thish ishn't the besht way to.... um..... hic..." Was all he managed to slur back before passing out.

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"Dickless isn't making this easy. Where could he be?" The emotionally deprived Sai asked his travelling companion.

"I don't know Sai.... Ever since Sasuke-kun was killed at the Hokage's summit, and Tsunade-shishou passing away 2 days ago, he...." Sakura says sadly. "Not to mention that Jiraiya-sama died not too long ago either... He's not doing well... I think he's broken down..."

"The books I have been reading lately says that he has signs of depression." Sai said back, showing Sakura the page.

"GAH!!! Well DUH!!!! I thought you would have been able to notice that without even having to check those goddamn books!!!" She yells back, stress taking revealing itself after being balled up like a insignificant ball cyst of non-happy things that finally decided to burst and let the world know who's mad. "We need to find him so I can smack him back into reality!"

As Sakura was yelling, a kunoichi with purple hair styled not unlike that of a pineapple couldn't help but overhear the outburst.

"So, I take it from what you're yelling, the blonde gaki isn't having a good month... Tell ya what, I'll help you find him, and slap him into shape!"

"A-anko-san! Where did...? Nevermind. Thanks for the help, but don't traumatize him too much please..." Sakura bows to the snake kunoichi in thanks.

"Pft... I doubt that even _I_ could make him any worse. Let's see what I can do then."

The scantily clad Kunoichi took off with a smirk that made Sai shiver a little bit.

"Dickless will probably _really_ be dickless by the time she's done... "

"Don't say stuff like that, Sai... You jinx it when you say that." Sakura retorts.

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"YOSH!!! WE WILL FIND NARUTO-KUN AND REKINDLE HIS FLAMES OF YOUTH!!!"

"GAI-SENSEI!!! ONLY YOU CAN REKINDLE THE FLAMES THAT HAVE BEEN EXTINGUISHED AS THOROUGHLY AS HIS!!!"

"Thank you for the information, Anko-san!!! We shall find Naruto-kun and show him true youth!!!!"

Meanwhile, a sauced Naruto was walking/stumbling down the street when he sneezed.

"Hic!!! I feel a dishturbansh in da forsh...."

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"Heheheh. This plan is even better than I imagined it could be! Tazuna, do you agree with my conditions?"

"Yeah yeah, so this works out for both of us?"

"Of course it does, in more ways than one. Heheheh."

_When this is implemented, everyone will get what they want. I will have my completely loyal shinobi force, and my political opponents will be out of the way. Add in the his current emotional state and the chances of this working are even greater! Hahaha!!!_

Danzo smirked before looking at the paperwork in disdain.

"Now for this... Sin against nature..."

--------To be continued----

Okay, maybe not as long as I said it would be, but I thought it was appropriate to end it there on a cliffy XD

In the reviews, please tell me how my character portrayal is, because no one told me in the last reviews -_-

Read and Review, folks!!!


	3. Chapter 3: Responsibilities

**AN: **Hey-oh!!! Sorry I've been gone for such a long ass time, but life's a bitch, ne? I'm still in high school, and senior project has sucked up a lot of my time, as well as making my RPG Maker game, (Look it up on , It's called Dream Odyssey. Make sure to DL the music files as well! It's not complete, so you only get the first part of the game and an optional dungeon with a boss that will MURDER you. )

Comments on the Manga: What. The. Fuck. Sasuke is WAAAAY overpowered. And that old fart Danzo had more bite to match his bark than I previously figured. No matter, it actually helps out my story since he nearly killed Sasuke on his own, so it's no small stretch to say that with all the other kages there, if Danzo joined the fray in any way, he woulda been smeared like the whiny bitch he is. However, couldn't they have used something better for the name of the doujutsu Danzo created? I mean, Izanagi…? The main god of ancient Japanese mythology wouldn't rely on pure trickery, that's more Izanami's style.

WARNING!!! Naruto WILL be getting a bloodline… What it will be and why, is up to me. However, I will listen to thy pitiful groveling about what it shalt be. Since the story is hinting that Naruto is related to Hashirama Senju in some way, you could figure out where I'm leaning. No, he won't be godlike… At first. It takes time to get to that status. And training. Lot's of it. Many many training montages, with Anko (and whomever else I might add if it suits my whimsy) chasing him with threats of castration, etc etc.

Otay! That was a long ass author's note… At least by my standards anyway. On with the show!

**Leafen Rebellion Chapter Three: Responsibilities **

* * *

**Konoha Training Ground no. 7:**

Our blonde haired hero can be seen in his favorite training ground, sitting. Doing what many would have dared be blasphemy for him not just 3 years ago… Thinking. Truth be told, Naruto thinks a lot more than people give him credit for. The culprit for spreading such a notion would be his mask of idiocy and cheerfulness. His real personality is slightly more reserved than that. Sure he's generally cheerful under the mask, but not to the extent that the picture he painted as a child was. What Naruto was thinking about was where his career is going to go now, since Sasuke is out of the picture.

"_The only Uchiha left is Madara, and he probably wants it that way. Does that old fart Danzo know that he's still alive…?"_ Naruto thought. _"And Pein, he truly wanted a peaceful world, though the methods he was planning to use were… Just barbaric…"_

Naruto heard a series of chirps and looked up to see a mother bird feeding its babies. Naruto knew whom his parents were. Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and even Tsunade kept that information hidden from him, and they are all dead. Danzo… _He_ is the reason Tsunade is dead. Naruto punched the ground next to him, much harder than he intended to and scared the mother bird from her nest.

"_I've had a decent idea what Danzo is up to for a while now, but what can I do about it…? Even though I defeated Pein, something no one was able to do, I'm still powerless when Konoha's politics are thrown into the equation…" _Naruto frowned. _"I know the villagers are grateful for my defeating Pein, but in the end… How far does that go…?"_

Absent mindedly reaching into one of his pouches, Naruto pulls out an odd kunai. He stared at it for 3 straight minutes, reminiscing about what could have been, were his father and mother still alive…

"_I never actually thought about what being the son of the hokage would be like… And not just any hokage, THE Yondaime, the Kiroi Senko… And my mother, a fiery headed woman from Whirlpool…" _ Naruto leaned back against the tree with the bird's nest and sighed. _"I don't really even know much about my mother, and anything I know about pops is what's written in the history books… I never got to ask Ero-sennin or Baa-chan about the people that they are, not what their ninja career achievements were… Shit, I don't even know if my mother was even a shinobi!"_

Naruto was mentally exhausted. His drinking binge merely staved off the pain for a short while, with reality slamming into him with the subtlety commonly found with Gai and Lee. With no current project to fill his time, our blonde ninja was at the end of his wits. He tried to train, but couldn't focus; his mind bombarded with thoughts that kept bugging him into the next day. Suddenly, he came to a realization: maybe he should research where his mother was from…?

"That's what I'll do! I'll go to Whirlpool, and find out more about my mother!" Knowing he was being watched by an ANBU, he said that out loud as he recognized who it was. "Oh, and Neko-chan, you can come out now. You've been following me since I woke up from my booze fest, and it's been annoying me." A woman with long purple hair and a cat mask jumped out and saluted Naruto before addressing him.

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

"_Oooookay, that one is new." Naruto thought._ "Alright, what's with the title and the salute, Neko-chan? I'm not the Hokage; that wrinkly old fart is… Wait, take off your mask. I want to see your eyes." Yuugao Uzuki, AKA Neko nodded and removed her mask. Naruto blushed a little bit at seeing her pretty face but quickly composed himself. "Please answer, Yuugao-chan."

"There is some dissent in the Shinobi and ANBU of Konoha… Many of us don't really trust Danzo as the Hokage, as the circumstances to his rise to power are incredibly dubious… So, a consensus was made between the whole lot of us that we should follow you, instead of the mummy who retired as a shinobi years ago." She went to go sit on a stump as she let Naruto process the weight of the news.

"… _Fuck…"_

"Um… Yuugao-chan… I don't think I'm best suited for leading that many shinobi… Maybe Kakashi-sensei would be a better choice…?" Yuugao shook her head.

"It was him who suggested we follow you. If he believes in you, so will I, and the rest of us will as well."

"… _Fuck..."_

"O-okay, well… Who all is on our side….?" Naruto was starting to get nervous. He's never had a responsibility like this before, and didn't want to screw it up. He was hoping he'd at least get a genin team to get the hang of command before being tossed into the fray face first without any experience.

"Many of the main shinobi clans. About half the Hyuuga, which includes Hiashi-sama, Neji-san, and Hinata-sama; the Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and Yakushi clans. You've also got Kurenai-chan, Anko-chan, Ibiki-san, Shizune-san, Kakashi-sempai, Yamato-sempai, Genma-san, Raidou-san, Koutetsu-san, Izumo-san, Gai-san, Sakura-san,, Tenten-chan, Konohamaru-kun and his friends, Ebisu-san, Iruka-san, Sai-san, along with several ANBU squads. There are also many others, but I felt that I should only specifically name the ones you knew or were particularly important."

"… _Fuck…"_

"That's… Quite a lot… I still can't believe that you guys would pick me of all people… I have no leadership experience… I would send you to your deaths!" Again, a shake of the head from Yuugao.

"You won't be alone. You WILL have help. You were chosen for the fact that you have the ability to charm anyone to be a better person…" Yuugao smiled slightly. "Your charisma has saved Konoha many times, and that's no coincidence. Your mood is infectious, you know, and when you're depressed, it spreads. So… Please cheer up, Naruto-kun…"

"…_.Fuck… Puppy eyes…"_

Naruto ran his hand through the spiky mane he called hair in slight frustration and distress. He REALLY felt that he wasn't ready for this, but god DAMN those puppy eyes!!!

"So… The way I see it, the majority of the shinobi population is against Danzo being Hokage." A nod from Yuugao. "While the majority of the civilian population and all of ROOT minus Sai are for him being Hokage." Another nod.

"So, do you accept Naruto-sama…?" Naruto twitched at the sama part. Naruto then furrowed his brow in deep thought, analyzing the most likely outcome of the scenarios. Then he sighed and looked at Yuugao before putting on one of his real smiles.

"I'll do my best. I swear on my ninja way, I'll do my best!" He exclaimed, though inwardly he kept repeating expletives and _what the hell am I thinking_. "Though I have a request Yuugao-chan… Please don't call me sama like that." Yuugao raised an eyebrow. "Just talk to me like you did when you watched me when I was little, or like you did 5 minutes ago."

"Of course, Naruto-kun." Yuugao smiled, happy that he embraced his destiny when it was offered to him. After the moment passed, she smoothed her expression to something more neutral. "What's the first order of business, Naruto-kun?" Said blonde thought for a moment.

"That old fart can't be allowed to even get the thought that he's being betrayed, or the shit will hit the fan by the bucketload." Yuugao nodded.

"We already took precaution to that, we've avoided meeting in large groups and Sai-san has been interfering with Danzo's spying on you. He's done an excellent job so far." Yuugao explained.

"Yeah, Sai's a pretty good actor. Though he can't directly tell us anything about Danzo because of a seal on his tongue." Naruto replied. "Ok, do we have a base of operations that is sealed from the he-who-knows-who-he-is-but-thankfully-isn't-here…?" Yuugao sweatdropped at Naruto's statement, but shook her head no.

"Hm… Then we need one…" Naruto took up another thinking pose, and after a few minutes, drew a blank.

"I got nothin'. Anyway, we shouldn't be talking about this sort of thing in the open like this."

"Of course." Yuugao sat silently for a few seconds, and her eyes lit up with an idea. "What were you saying about Whirlpool earlier…?"

"Oh, I was planning to make a trip there sometime. Wh..." Naruto stopped mid-sentence as he hatched a devious Naruto-like plot. "Ha! You're a genius, Yuugao-chan!" He smiled broadly and she blushed.

"_What did I say that was so smart…?"_ She thought.

"Where is Whirlpool located? Like, it's general location near another country." Naruto quickly asked.

"Oh! Um… The closest friendly country would be…" She took a few seconds to think. "Wave country, I believe…" Naruto looked like he had just discovered a mother lode of pure diamonds.

"_Ohhhhh, this is gonna work perfectly... I just need to find Tazuna-jiji…"_

"Okay, I got it all planned out Yuugao-chan, and when the time comes, Danzo won't know what hit him!" Naruto quipped impishly before running off in glee. "I'll contact you later!!!" He added as he was running off. The female ANBU just shrugged, donned her mask again, and shunshined off to relay the good news to Naruto's new subordinates.

* * *

**Konoha, Southern District**

Naruto was slightly frustrated. Wait, no, screw that. He was downright pissed. One thing that drives him nuts is when he can't find someone. Unfortunately, he can't ever find someone when he is actually looking for them when he doesn't have any directions. Sure, he saw a lot of Tazuna recently, but now the drunk old geezer just can't be found.

"Heyyy, Naruto!!!" He recognized that voice, and nearly turned around and threw something sharp and pointy at it's origin, but when people don't respond well to favors being asked of them when they've been turned into a pincushion. So, he filed his anger away in his shit list, smiled, and turned around.

"Tazuna!!! I've been looking for you all over the damn place!!!" Okay, the smile didn't last and he ran out of space in the shit list, so some of it spilled over onto a sticky note. "I need to ask a favor… Can we go to a more private place…?" Tazuna gave him a look of curiousity but shrugged and followed him when the blonde started walking off.

* * *

**Ichiraku Ramen Tent:**

Naruto and Tazuna were seated at a table that was located close to the ground. Ayane brought two bowls of ramen to the table, to which Naruto said his thanks, and Tazuna grunted in approval. Naruto proceeded to eat his ramen, albeit at a slower pace than he usually does (I.E. black hole), savoring it. Tazuna started to get a tick on his forehead and broke the silence.

"Okay gaki, what did you drag me away from my work for…?" Tazuna said, irritated. Naruto finished slurping up his current shovel full of ramen and swallowed.

"I need you to submit a mission to the Hokage that concerns Whirlpool, and asking that I lead it." Naruto answered simply, face showing no emotion. Tazuna raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Okay, what the hell would Wave want with Whirlpool?" Tazuna asked, leaning back.

"Pft, I don't know or care. I just need an excuse to go to Whirlpool for a month."

"Why the hell would you want to do that?! Sure, the place used to be great, but it's basically nothing now. Remember how Wave used to be?" A nod from Naruto. "That's Whirlpool now. There's no centralized government, the royal family is all gone, what with the heiress having gone missing after Iwa attacked 19 years ago. It's chaotic."

"I don't care. It concerns my family!" Naruto said firmly.

"Family? I thought you said you were an orphan…?" Tazuna said, the tone of voice softening.

"I am. But, I've found out who my parents were…"

"I see… Were they from Whirlpool…?" Tazuna asked.

"My mother was. As for the old man… Well… I haven't told anyone this. Can I trust you to keep this a secret?" Tazuna nodded. "Okay, then let's step outside." Once outside, Naruto led Tazuna to an open view of the Hokage Mountain, it having been just outside the blast radius of Pein's technique.

"See the guy fourth from the left right next to the lady…?" Naruto asked while pointing, to which Tazuna nodded. "That's the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and…" Tazuna put two and two together, since he had seen the Yondaime Hokage before. They looked virtually the same! Previously, the answer would have been fish, but he finally got the number four!

"I see. You don't need to say it. I see it now." Tazuna said. Naruto made a sigh of relief. It wouldn't go over very well if someone overheard him actually say it; whether whomever heard it believed it or not nothing good would have come from it.

"_Wait… If Jiji, Baa-chan, and Ero-sennin knew…Tthen that must mean that Danzo-teme, Orochimaru-teme, and Jiji's advisors must have known... Whatever. I'll have to think this over later. I'm being sorta rude."_ Naruto thought as Tazuna patiently waited for him.

"Gaki. You'll have your job. I won't mention Whirlpool though, that might make your Hokage suspicious."

"Hm?" Naruto was slightly surprised at the old man's insight. It _would_ appear kind of suspicious, since Danzo most likely knew about his heritage and would have his goddamn ROOT tailing him in larger numbers than just Sai. "Okay, so what's your idea?" They had long since returned to the tent and sat down, lest someone overhear something they shouldn't and ruin the plan.

"You might not be aware of this, but Wave treats you as its savior. We even named the bridge after you. So, if we asked for Wave's hero to help guard the country from a 'bandit uprising' that we can't handle because of what the most able bodied men are doing in Konoha." Naruto nodded in approval, hiding his surprise at being Wave's hero and having the bridge named after him. "As for the smaller details, I can improvise those. How many people are you planning on bringing…?"

"…" Naruto took a moment to consider who would most likely have figured out his heritage and not care at the same time. Shikamaru quickly came to mind, as did Shikaku. Sai was probably told by Danzo, but if not, it probably wouldn't affect anything. Kakashi would be a decent choice, but the village needed him for protection so that was unlikely to work. Maybe Yamato, but again, he's too valuable at Konoha for the moment, what with him having the Mokuton bloodline. "I would be hoping for three or maybe four, but prospects show two or possibly even one. Just ask for me and three other shinobi of my choice."

"Got it." Tazuna stood up and shook Naruto's hand before saying that he needed to return to work but he'll have the request in by tomorrow. Meanwhile, Naruto still continued who he could bring along. There was the silent Shino, who would probably (like Shikamaru) have deduced by using common sense and two photos placed next to each other that the Yondaime was Naruto's father. There would be Yuugao, and she might be allowed to go since she's an ANBU and to keep appearances up that he doesn't have ROOT Danzo might have her come along anyway. There was Anko, who Danzo might want to have out of the way for a while so there are fewer interrogators in case any of his ROOT soldiers get caught. He can't take Shizune, since she was taking care of the Hospital, including Sakura. Kiba would be more useful in Konoha since he's a good direct combatant, but his older sister might be permitted to go, since she's primarily a vet; but an Inuzuka is an Inuzuka when you need to find something, and that would be a perfect excuse to bring her, and since she's a chunin and not an elite jounin, that further increases the chances.

"_Okay, since Danzo will probably force me to take Sai regardless of what the request says, I should incorporate him anyway. Then there'll be Shikamaru for his intelligence and the fact that I can _

_guaran-damn-tee that he already knows about my heritage but considers it troublesome. Hana would be good because of the likelihood that Danzo would permit it, and her Inuzuka nose will be a good excuse for tracking bandits. Inuzukas are also loyal to a fault, so I can trust her with the REAL reason for the mission along with my heritage."_ Naruto stopped to look at the Hokage monument. _"And if Danzo approves me to take four shinobi, I'll throw in Anko. Not as an afterthought, but because we get along and she's pretty strong."_

* * *

Naruto decided to take a leisurely stroll through Konoha where people needed help, making a Kage Bunshin here and there when someone needed an extra hand or six. Naruto knew he was incredibly powerful, of that there was no doubt, most likely the second strongest or strongest known shinobi in the elemental nations in fact. However, that was when in Sage Mode or when using the Kyuubi's chakra. He needed training, as well as some new techniques. When Naruto was fighting Sasuke, he noticed a watery, sharklike guy with Zabuza's Houcho Kubikiri. While initially angry that the water balloon with teeth jacked the sword, he decided that he would hang on to it. However, he had no idea how to use the Zanbatou.

_**Flashback**************_

Naruto was examining the Houcho Kubikiri after the capture of Suigetsu. Naruto wanted to learn to use it, if only in honor of Zabuza Momochi's memory. A Kiri shinobi noticed what the young blonde held, and walked up to talk with him.

"Naruto-san, correct?" Naruto twitched out of his reverie at the mention of his name and turned to look behind him, and then up a ways due to the man's height. "My name is Ao, and I'm one of the Godaime Mizukage's guards. You seem to like that blade."

"Well, Ao-san… I knew the man who used it. My team was the reason he died when all three of us were genin." Ao was shocked, even if he didn't show it. Zabuza was no pushover, and whoever defeated one of the Seven Swordsman had the right to own their sword. "Originally, we had it as a grave marker, but it looks like someone stole it… I was thinking of learning Kenjutsu with this Zanbatou, but there aren't any in Konoha, so I'm outta luck there…" Ao thought for a moment, and came to the conclusion that he should aid the Kyuubi vessel. But, he wanted to talk to the Mizukage first about it, even though he was pretty sure she wouldn't give a flying fuck either way.

"Please wait here, Naruto-dono. I'll be right back." Naruto was confused about the title, but shrugged it off and waited regardless. About five minutes later, Ao returned with a small bundle of scrolls under an arm.

"Alright Naruto-dono, here we are. I discussed this with the Mizukage, and we decided that the Hidden Mist, in order to protect the Vessel of the Kyuubi, offer these Kenjutsu scrolls for Zanbatou so you can learn to wield it with some degree of expertise. There are also theory scrolls, a scroll for teaching sword care, a scroll with care supplies sealed in it, and a scroll that shows how to repair damage done to it." Naruto could barely contain his excitement. He was about to erupt into a storm of arigatous when Ao held up his hand. "Also, it seems that it was in the best interest of the Mizukage to give you these scrolls containing some of our water jutsus…" He said slightly irritatedly, and looked in the direction of his liege. Naruto, curious as to the tone of Ao's last sentence, looked in the same direction. Mei Terumi winked and blew him a kiss, which made Naruto turn the color of a tomato. The other guard for Mei went slack jawed and seemed to cry waterfalls off in the corner, with a raincloud of gloom floating over him.

"You! Blondie!" Naruto looked in the direction of the voice. He looked over and saw a very short old man with a huge nose. The Tsuchikage, Naruto remembered. So, being the nice guy he was, Naruto went over to see what the oompa-loompa of a shinobi wanted. The old man gave him a look up and down before snorting indignantly. "Well, you're obviously _his_ kid." Naruto suddenly felt unwelcome. "Heh, if only we coulda fought in the war! Hahahahah!" Naruto noticed the proverbial welcome mat was back. "Don't worry gaki, I don't hold any grudges on your dad. I can't say the same about some of my other shinobi, but he did what he had to do to protect his village, and I respect him for that. I also respect how strong he was… He would have been proud to know you whooped that Pein bastard." Naruto smiled, thankful that the old man wasn't going to hold a grudge. Naruto spent the rest of the time talking with the other shinobi leaders, enjoying himself. Until someone decided to make an appearance….

**TO BE CONTINUED**

Okay folks, read and review!!! I saw how many people favorited this story, as well as me (wtf?!) and I expect a bunch of reviews or it will make me a sad panda!!!


	4. Chapter 4: Plans

**AN:** Sweet Jesus almighty, I'm under attack from the favorite author/story/subscription alerts!!! HELP MEHHHHH!!!!!! Lol. Actually, I'm happy so many of you like the story, though I really wish my e-mail was flooded with review alerts. Not only do they give me a stronger muse, they can also let me know what is wrong with my writing. It is imperative you, as readers, do such. It's the least you can do for someone who is pouring their heart and/or soul into something that would otherwise be a complete and total waste of time…

Possible review options:

Character portrayal?

Battle scenes (really none yet, so whatevs)

Humor (I have a different form of humor, due to my high intelligence. Some of it is the equivalent to fart humor, so don't worry about not being able to follow. My other most common form of humor is quite nonchalant… Almost as if it was unintentional. AN:AN: btw, did anyone get the 2+2=4 remark about Naruto's father? Get it? He was the **4****th** Hokage… erm… nvm. I didn't catch it either until I looked at it later lol.)

Plot

Plot twists

Other criterion I'm too lazy to mention as of now

Also, some of my stories may not be a very easy read to some people. I've read a third of the Divine Comedy, and am in the middle of reading Macbeth in my 12 grade LA class, so my mannerisms of speech and behavior are sort of locked in that form… But alas, I shall end that flight of fancy anon and roost mine calloused feet henceforth to begin this chapter…

Go ahead and flame me, even if you find no reason to. Merely add it into your regular reviews with a little note next to it signifying that it is, indeed, a flame. If anything, they shall entertain me and thou shalt practice thine flaming skillz.

Also, Bloodline Naruto…? No comments... Yet?

Also also, a few of you may have noticed that my portrayal of Naruto shows his IQ in the triple digits. ( I _KNOW!!!! _ What's up with that, man?!) I have him thinking the way I do when it comes to, well… Almost everything that Naruto has shown no previous thoughts to.

Anyway, let's get started, shall we…?

_Last time on Leafen Rebellion:_

_ Mid flashback:_

"_You! Blondie!" Naruto looked in the direction of the voice. He looked over and saw a very short old man with a huge nose. The Tsuchikage, Naruto remembered. So, being the nice guy he was, Naruto went over to see what the oompa-loompa of a shinobi wanted. The old man gave him a look up and down before snorting indignantly. "Well, you're obviously his kid." Naruto suddenly felt unwelcome. "Heh, if only we coulda fought in the war! Hahahahah!" Naruto noticed the proverbial welcome mat was back. "Don't worry gaki, I don't hold any grudges on your dad. I can't say the same about some of my other shinobi, but he did what he had to do to protect his village, and I respect him for that. I also respect how strong he was… He would have been proud to know you whooped that Pein bastard." Naruto smiled, thankful that the old man wasn't going to hold a grudge. Naruto spent the rest of the time talking with the other shinobi leaders, enjoying himself. Until someone decided to make an appearance…._

_End flashback_

**Chapter 4: Danzo's Problems**

* * *

Hokage's Office, Hokage Tower

Danzo was again sitting in the Hokage's office, with renewed newfound respect for his predecessors.

"_I took Tsunade-hime's griping too lightly, as well as Sarutobi-Dono's… They weren't kidding about the paperwork…! And with the village in the state it is in, I fear I may become the Paper Shadow, what with how much seems to gravitate in my general direction!"_

Contrary to the image that was portrayed, Danzo deeply respected Hiruzen and his students, if not for their skills, and now for their patience in dealing with this. Also, there was the bitching from the civilian council to deal with… And to think he used to be one of those idiots…! They knew nothing of the village other than what they can see with their eyes…

"_And now that the co-called "Demon" defeated the one responsible for the almost utter annihilation of the village, the civilian council is hailing him as a hero. I don't see a problem with that, but it makes my job a little more difficult than it need be."_ Danzo looked out the window of the newly rebuilt Hokage's Tower on the ensuing construction. _"The council is also pulling some of the same tricks it pulled when I wasn't Hokage… Undermining my authority, ordering around shinobi they have no business doing as civilians… Among other things, of course. It seems I need an assistant… A high profile one… And I have just the one…"_ The door opened, and Danzo's ROOT who were on guard twitched into ready stances. Danzo held up his free hand telling them to stand down. In walked Naruto Uzumaki.

"You wanted to see me old fart?" He asked bluntly. Danzo chuckled at his attitude, happy that some people are direct when the situation calls for it. "I have a lot of training I could be doing, and I could also be helping out with reconstruction." Danzo merely motioned for him to take a seat. An uncomfortable silence ensued as Danzo went over the best way to say what he was about to say. He finally cleared his throat and decided on the method with the likelihood of success.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Age: 16. Mother: Kushina Uzumaki, Missing. Presumed dead." Naruto raised an eyebrow, mind trying to see where the old warhawk was going. "Father: Minato Namikaze. Deceased." Naruto cringed, something that Danzo noticed, but filed away for later. "Current Toad Sage, completed the deadly Rasengan, vessel for the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune. Current owner of Zabuza Momochi's Houcho Kubikiri. Has killed several S-rank shinobi, majority of which missing-nin status. Defeated Pein, the false leader of Akatsuki and wielder of the fabled Rin'negan, one whom even Hanzo the Salamander couldn't even defeat and one of the strongest shinobi in recorded history couldn't defeat, and Hanzo was unable to be defeated by the Sannin in their prime whilst working as a team. One of those Sannin trained the Hiroi Senko, likely the strongest shinobi ever to have lived." Naruto was confused. Was this just a recount of his achievements…? Or was Danzo trying to drive home the weight of his achievements…? "Current rank: Genin." Danzo paused for a moment before sighing. "Do you see the problem with this picture Uzumaki-dono?" Even Danzo was giving Naruto a huge degree of respect… Almost as if he were an equal… What game was he playing…?

"My rank, old man." Naruto responded after analyzing the whole story. "What does it have to do with this whole meeting though?" Danzo allowed a small smile to adorn his face.

"More than you would think, Uzumaki. Never before in the history of any shinobi village has such an anomaly occurred." Danzo opened a desk drawer and pulled out a scroll, setting it in front of Naruto before leaning back in his ultra comfy chair. Naruto scoffed inwardly while looking at Danzo with narrowed eyes before opening up and looking through the contents of the scroll.

_ I, Danzo, the Rokudaime Hokage, in light of outstanding service and other heroic acts in past missions, demonstrating Konoha's power in a positive manner, attracting more clients, removing several S-rank shinobi from the bingo books, and many other achievements, do hereby promote Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze to Tokubetsu Jounin. Effective immediately. _

Well, turns out Danzo DOES know of his parentage. No matter, it would not interfere in his future plans if Danzo is as smart as he makes himself seem. The promotion was long overdue though, however, Naruto was expecting merely chuunin, not freaking Special Jounin!

"_He must be trying to butter me up… He knows the weight my influence carries in the village as of late… I hope he isn't suspicious." _Naruto concluded.

"I'm honored, old man… But was it really necessary at this point…?"

"It looks better in the history books." Danzo answered flatly. "It also coincides with the mission request I have here, requesting you specifically." Naruto had no outwardly emotion planted on his face other than a 'do tell…' look. But inwardly he was thinking again.

"_That was really fast… It's only been around 3 hours since I talked with Tazuna… Either he's really good or he actually DOES need help with bandits in Wave… No matter, if Danzo lets me choose my team, I can take care of the bandits quickly enough for me to look into Whirlpool."_ Seeing the 'do tell…' look, Danzo whipped out the mission scroll and placed it in front of our recently promoted blonde enigma.

"This comes from Wave Country." _Bingo._ "It seems bandits have gotten gutsy lately and are starting to run rampant, what with the majority of Wave's men being located in Konoha at the time. The local militia is proving ill trained to deal with the threats, so Tazuna-san placed this request yesterday." _Bull's-eye._ "The request asks for 4 additional shinobi to be sent as support, and I will allow you to choose 3 to take along with you. I want Sai to go with you regardless of your choices." _Ding ding ding! Jackpot._ "I'll give you a minute or two to contemplate who you wish to bring, but please take into account the current state of the village. I won't allow you to take to many high profile shinobi."

Naruto started thinking. Not about who to take of course, he already knew the answers to that. He did need to act the part for a couple minutes though. Instead, he went over what Whirlpool looked like, what its people looked like, if they served much ramen there, y'know. Naruto stuff. After the couple minutes he acted as if he just made a life decision by pounding his fist into his hand with a determined look on his face.

"Shikamaru Nara, Hana Inuzuka, and Anko Mitarashi." Danzo looked surprised, but not the bad kind. It would be a perfect team for the mission, and it doesn't drain Konoha too much.

The Nara boy is an excellent strategist, and is almost a match for his father. Hana Inuzuka is a chuunin, and her absence won't be a large detriment to Konoha's force, even though she does have some medical expertise. Her tracking skills as an Inuzuka make her perfect for the job. Orochimaru's ex-apprentice will be perfect for interrogating any bandits that survive the battles to find the locations of their hideouts. Imagine if Uzumaki was given a proper education the whole time he was in the academy… Not one to dwell on the mistakes of others, he started writing down the roster for the mission.

"Your choices are excellent, given who I was allowing you to take. I underestimated you, Uzumaki-dono."

"_There he goes kissing ass again..."_

"When should I gather my team?" Naruto asked, satisfied with the mission. _"It's all going according to plan…Well, what I had actually planned, anyway."_

"If the request was not exaggerating, then you should track your teammates down and prepare to leave immediately." Danzo answered. "I will notify Sai immediately personally, so focus on the rest of your team and your supplies." Naruto saluted, despite the mental anguish at doing so and turned to leave. "You can take a small vacation once the assigned mission is completed, 1 week at most. If you wish to remain in Wave for the duration, then do so, but keep your team with you in case Akatsuki decides to attack you." Naruto nodded, inwardly happy that he could take a small vacation from his duties to research his family, not that Danzo had to know that little tidbit. He could also get some training time in with his Zanbatou and those water element techniques the Mizukage gave to him. After Naruto left, Danzo let out a sigh, and his face resumed it's cold emotionless exterior that his ROOT soldiers knew him for. He snapped a finger, and handed a note to one of his guards. "Take that to Sai." He sat back down, and frowned. He had never faced such an inexhaustible foe… "Damn this paperwork."

Naruto was walking casually down the steps with his hands in his pockets, seemingly spacing out.

"I think I'll find Hana first. She could sniff them out so I don't need to spend a couple hours tracking them down myself…" Naruto halted. "Dammit! I don't know where to find Hana…!" Naruto palms his forehead in a 'derrr' moment. "Well, maybe Kiba will know, it's not like he'd be that hard to find, what with that horse of a dog he rides…"

So with that idea in mind, Naruto gleefully walks off after producing several Shadow Clones to aid in the search. It wasn't too long before one of his replications located Kiba and dispersed, transferring the memory to the original. Naruto quickly dashed off to Kiba's location.

He arrived at the location; a destroyed part of Konoha that Kiba was helping to rebuild. His Mother, Tsume, was also there as well, so if Kiba didn't know, she would most likely be able to help. Seeing Naruto, Kiba waved at him and called him over.

"Yo, Naruto! 'Sup, man?" He said, leaping off his massive pooch.

"I need Hana." He answered matter of factly. Kiba botched his landing and did a 5 point landing directly on his face.

"That's rather direct of you, Naruto-kun…" Tsume said, grinning lecherously. Naruto looked confused, not getting it. "I had no idea you had a thing for my daughter…" Naruto had the decency to blush like a tomato while hearing a 'what the hell?!' from below him.

"N-no, i-it's not like that… Tsume-sama…" Tsume, just raised an eyebrow and gave a knowing smirk, while still having that look from before. How she managed, Naruto couldn't figure out, but that was a matter for a different time.

"Oh? Are you saying she's not good enough for the Almighty Uzumaki-sama…?" Tsume now asked accusingly. "How high and mighty of you…! Or perhaps you don't wish to associate with hairy mutts like us…?" Tsume was now releasing the killing intent of an indignant female, which makes any other KI pale in comparison. Kiba uttered an 'eep!' before hitting the dusty ol' trail.

"I-I-I didn't mean it that way, Ts-Tsume-sama….!" He pleaded desperately. And then, as if a switch were turned off, the Inuzuka matriarch just smiled innocently and picked the battered husk of a teenager up off the street before asking what he meant, and reassured him that she was just kidding. Naruto told her that he needed Hana for a mission, and had no idea where to look so as to find her. Tsume nodded and gave him a few places Hana should be, and told him to come back if he couldn't find her at those places. After Naruto ran off thanking the Inuzuka clan leader, Kiba walked back up now that ground zero had been cleared for human presence.

"Though I wouldn't mind Hana dating him…" Tsume said, with the result of Kiba's eyes resembling saucers, and garbled speech emitting from his mouth. "Hell, I wouldn't mind taking him… He's like a mini-Yondaime...!" She said with an uncharacteristic fangirl squeal. Kiba promptly passed out, Akamaru snickering next to the two of them.

* * *

**Inuzuka Temporary Dog Kennel**

Naruto poked his head into a tent that Tsume described as having "a shitload of barking coming from it" and was not disappointed. He was entranced with a glorious sight… Hana bending over, her well shaped behind directly in Naruto's eyesight. Our blonde hero isn't a pervert like his late sensei or Kakashi Hatake, but men (and by extension teenage males) are to a degree perverts. Naruto was no exception.

When Hana finally turned around to address him, he was too far gone in lala-land to notice he wasn't staring at her ass anymore. Hana tried waving her hand in front of his face, even calling his name, but finally resorted to a brutal pinch on one of his whiskered cheeks. It worked, but Naruto yelped in pain. The eighteen year old chuunin cleared her throat to get his attention, hands on her hips and a foot tapping. Naruto blushed the same shade of red as before, but quickly recovered after a brief apology for staring.

"ANYway…" Naruto resumed, "I have a mission I want you to join me on, along with three others… Two of which I want your help to locate…"

"What's the mission, Naruto-_kun_?" Hana responded, enjoying the blonde jounin's reaction to the honorific, which consisted of: spluttering, an unaccountable sudden loss of footing whilst going 0.0 mph (0.0 kph), sudden temperature increase in the cranial cavity, lobster like pigmentation in the facial area (most heavily concentrated in the cheek area) and a sudden interest in something that was on the floor somewhere off to his right. Regaining his composure (again…), he continued his explanation for the erm… Visit. Occasionally stopping to answer a question or two. Naruto also explained what he needed her to do at the moment, and she agreed to go look for Shikamaru and Anko after she was finished there. He agreed and gave her a copy of the mission scroll, and a couple for the two teammates she was going to track down.

"See ya, Hana-chan!" He said cheerfully before running off. _"This is something I've been waiting to know for a long time… About my family. All we have to do is remove the nuisances that are plaguing Wave… Whirlpool, here I come!!!"_

To be Continued…..

* * *

AAAAAnd that's all for now, folks! Wow, I haven't posted this quickly before… Hrm… Well, just be glads I ams!!

Again, leave me a review. If you can take the time to make this a favorite story, me a favorite author, and/or put this fic on alert, you could leave a review. Please make sure to do so. Thank you! Ja ne!


	5. Chapter 5 Follow the Brown Dirt Road!

**AN:** Booyah! MK here again! A brief hiatus was in order because of spring break… And rarely do I ever get anything like this done at home, so yeah. That and I started playing Shin Megami Tensei Imagine Online again after my 6 month hiatus… My clan is totally dead!!! Well, _was_ totally dead. However, using my magical online charisma, I hath breathed life into it so instead of being totally dead, 'tis merely twitching in an attempt to stay alive… My clan is Zodiac and I'm the leader, Somaru. If you like the SMT games and MMOs, then check it out. It's on and totally free, unless you wanna spend money to buy AP (Aeria Points) to buy badass stuff in game. If you are reading this and you know of me and my clan, or are actually in it (fat chance.), then yo! How's it going? If not, then I recommend the game highly. You can also ask me about the fic in "person" and just chat with me while I blow the god fearing daylights out of some demons. PM either me (Somaru) or my subs Azere, or AlexanderRaven when you log on. When speaking to me, refer to the fic so I don't get all freaked out, and with the other two, just say you'd be interested in joining the clan. If you ever need help in game, and I happen to be logged in, I'll be sure to help you out if I'm not busy (which I'm usually not).

Now that that's out of the way, I will take this sentence to say that from now on, I will be answering reviews that have genuine questions.

_______: Glad you like it. As for Naruto being out of character the whole time, you'd expect something like that to happen with all the events taking place. Besides, haven't you noticed the somber attitude that Naruto has taken recently in the Manga? I'm not that far off in that respect… Just more logical. Also, it's a fan fic. ^-^

_______: Naw, Kushina's dead. I'll tell ya this now so as to prevent further confusion. For now I'm going with the whole "killed during childbirth" schpiel until I can think of something deeper… The whole reason Danzo said MIA was for the pure fact that he didn't know, what with the whole giant chakra being wreaking havoc on the village.

_______: No, this IS an AnkoNaruto fic, with the minor harem attribute. As for the additional pairings, who knows…? It may seem like I'm pointing a big stick at Hana, but again, who knows? I could throw a massive curveball and say "Konan!!!" for all you know…

I haven't done this much, but I do not own Naruto nor it's trademark associated properties. If I did, this wouldn't be a fan fic. It would be a fic and I would be LOOOAAADED.

ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!

Chapter 5 of Leafen Rebellion: Follow the Brown Dirt Road!

**Konoha's Gates facing Wave Country**

Naruto is seen watching a fly buzz around, since he has nothing better to do at the moment. A recent addition of a huge ass single edged sword made the sight all the more interesting however as he seemed to have his hand on its hilt. Izumo and Kotetsu were watching in interest from their ramshackle guard post since they really have nothing better to do. In a split second, the massive cleaver smashed the ground right in front of Naruto, making a loud exploding noise. Izumo and Kotetsu's eyes resembled saucers as they did not even see the blade move.

"… I missed the fly…" Naruto whined. The two chuunin facevaulted. "But, it appears that the seals I placed on the blade work, unless I didn't swing hard enough…" Naruto did indeed have seals placed on the blade. Etched into the blade closest to the hilt were a few seals. The first seal is a chakra storage seal that Naruto can store chakra in at his leisure, however demonic chakra will damage the metal, so normal chakra is all that he is able to place into it. He tried putting natural energy into a practice blade and it started to act like stone, becoming hard, brittle, and heavy while rusting quickly from the seal. Naruto can draw on that chakra when he needs to do so in battle.

The second seal Naruto called the "Adamantium Seal" in reference to a fictional alloy that he saw in a book he read a while back. It allows the blade to mimic the qualities of the fictional alloy with the application of standard human chakra. Not infallible, the effects increase with a higher chakra flow. The result is a blade that is practically impossible to dull and/or break from physical abuse. This seal is linked with the chakra pool seal so it can semi-self sustain when needed. The strain on Naruto's chakra pools are negligible while this seal is in effect.

The last seal he calls the "Divine Seal" because it allows the sword to negate the effects of elemental chakra to itself. For example, the blade will not heat up when exposed to a flame element technique such as the grand fireball. Granted, the flames that make it past the sword will burn like, well, fire would, but the blade will not be changed. It will not conduct electricity, nor will a jutsu such as Thousand Birds or Lightning Blade be able to cut through it as long as the swordsman's chakra is flowing through the seal.

"Troublesome…" Guess who?! THE EASTER BUNNY (JK)!!! "Now you use a zanbatou? Tch. I guess the Kagebunshin and Rasengan were your only schticks… Makes sense you'd pick up something else." Turning to face Shikamaru, Naruto hefted the Houcho Kubikiri back into the custom made harness he had made on his back.

"Eh, it just came to me. Figured I shouldn't let the thing go to waste, ne?" Naruto responded with a grin. "Also, I don't think the original owner would mind." He continued, slightly pensive. Shikamaru merely shrugged and lit up a cigarette and looked towards the clouds. He took a puff and looked back down.

"So, bandits in wave?" Naruto nods back. "I would say troublesome, but in light of recent events…" His eyes wander to the ruins of Konoha. "I think a little vacation would be in order."

"Yeah, well, I figured you would want to come along, though I'm pretty sure you put on your usual act when Hana sniffed you out." Shikamaru tried to avoid eye contact at that statement. "And I have some additional business to take care of when we toss the bandits out of business…" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question, but decided that Naruto would explain later if he didn't when the others were here.

"Do I have to call you taichou?" Shikamaru asked after another puff. Naruto just waved it off.

"Nah, it would have been too troublesome for you. Hehe." Naruto jokes. Shimaru just chuckles and rolls his eyes. Hana took that moment to arrive, a stir crazy Anko in tow.

"Alright blondie, let's get the show on the road!" Anko chirps cheerfully, glad to be doing something ninja-like in a long time. Hana just sighed and bid her Ninken trio to return to the kennel. "Eh? No dogs, Hana-chan?" Anko asked. Hana shook her head.

"They'll be more useful to mom. I don't wanna sound cocky, but we're just cleaning out bandits." Anko nodded. "I'm mainly here for tracking and some light medical work, if I'm guessing correctly." Naruto nodded in confirmation. With that, the four started off towards Wave. About an hour after they took off, Shikamaru spoke up.

"So, Naruto, what's the 'additional business' you wanted to take care of when the bandits were dealt with…?" Anko and Hana looked a little confused, but didn't show it that much.

"Okay, do you guys know much about my parents?" Anko and Hana shrugged, but Shikamaru answered immediately.

"Your dad is Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. I've more or less figured that out since we were in the academy." Anko looked like she was about to fall over, and Hana needed a shovel for her jaw. Naruto looked unsurprised at the answer from Shikamaru. "I asked my dad, and he confirmed it. As for your mother, the only Uzumaki I know of other than the royal family of Whirlpool," Now it was Naruto's turn to bug out. "would be the Crimson Princess, Kushina Uzumaki." Anko was awestruck. Naruto too. Oh, don't forget Hana either! She done droppeded her jaw again...

"I-I thought that Crimson Princess was just a name!!!" Anko shouted. "You saying that the blondie over there is royalty?!" Shikamaru ignored her.

"Menodokusai... Naruto, what part of what I just said has your jaw on the ground?" Shikamaru asked calmly. Naruto shook his head to clear some of the stupor from his head. (mildly successful)

"Um, I would have to say the whole royal family part..." Shikamaru shrugged.

"I doubt that it means much anymore, since Whirlpool is basically an anarchy now. Technically, it was annexed by Fire Country, even though it is near Wave. I take it that's our destination once we root out the bandits...? To find out more about your mother's side of the family?"

"_... Fuck..."_

"Eheh... Yep! You figured it out..." Naruto said, muttering 'bastard' under his breath. "I hope that's okay with you guys... I mean, it's kinda selfish of me..."

"Shut the hell up blondie!" Anko shouted. "I think that you deserve to be a little selfish this once!" Naruto had a look of 'heke?' on his face, 'cause he was preparing for the fishnet clad apocolypse. "So, I don't have a problem with it. You, Hana-chan?"

"Nah, I think it'll be kinda fun. Keeps me away from my fleabag brother..." That left Shikamaru. The others knew how his response would start and end, but the wording in between not so much.

"Menodokusai..." He stomps on a cigarrette butt and looks at the sky. "I suppose. Gives me more time to think."

"Thanks guys..." Naruto looked like he was about to start crying but smiled widely instead. "Yosh!!! Let's throw on the steam!"

A feminine chorus of "HAI NARUTO-TAICHO!!!" and a sleepy "Coming, coming." erupted from his team mates as he put on the speed.

Somewhere... Not sure where, just... Someplace.

"Madara, what are we going to do about the Nine-Tails?"

"Right now? Absolutely n o t h i n g."

"**Why? Danzo has sent the brat on a mission. We could take him easily.**"

"No, I don't think I could beat him now, not after what I saw... At least not yet..."

"But...."

"Relax, Zetsu. He'll live hundreds of years. The Eight Tail vessel will as well. We have all the time in the world."

"**What did you see during his fight with Sasuke?"**

"Heh heh. Something I did not anticipate..."

* * *

Somewhere else that I am too lazy to elaborate on, though in Konoha's vicinity.

"MOM!!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED EARLIER?!?!" An irate Kiba yelled, nay **screamed** with the fury of a thousand fluffy suns.

"Hm? What's the matter, mutt? Got a rash from riding Akamaru too long?" Tsume answered, trying to stop the ringing noise. Kiba spluttered.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL!!!" He resumed. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY ABOUT NARUTO?!?!"

"Oh that. I said I wouldn't mind jumping his bone sometime. Why?" Tsume answered nonchalantly, hoping the ringing noise would stop soon and Kiba would use his inside voice.

"IT'S NOT RIGHT!!! What's... How... But...? MOM!!!" Kiba managed to speak.

"Words, mutt. You make sentences with words put together. And stop yelling, I'm right here." Tsume lectured back. "Hey, since he can make Kagebunshins, I wonder how long he could last in the sack..." Thud. Tsume looked at the passed out form of her son. "Huh. Y'know, he should lighten up."

"Hello Tsume-sama. Er.... What happened to Kiba-kun...?" Kurenai asked, just having walked up to see what the yelling was about.

"Oh, that? The mutt passed out when I told him that I would jump Naruto-kun's bone if I had the chance." Tsume said nonchalantly yet again.

"Oh! Oh my! You said what?!" Kurenai answered, the information slowly processing itself. "He's..."

"A highly eligible bachelor, the strongest ninja I can think of alive in the world, and a whiskered clone of the Yondaime. He's also incredibly honest, loyal, and caring." Tsume explained. "The Yondaime part was hot enough, but when you toss in those adorable whiskers, it makes me so wet!!!"

"Tsume-sama...?"

"I'm still young enough to have kids..." Tsume continued.

"Um...."

"Though he'd be a clan leader..."

"Erm... Tsume-sama?"

"How would that work...? It's beyond me... What clan would the pups be tied to?"

"..."

"AGH!!! I'm getting wet just thinking about it! I'll have to take care of that lat-"

"TSUME-SAMA!!!" A furiously blushing Kurenai yelled.

"Hm? What's up?" Tsume merely answered.

"Forgive me, but I don't think it's very appropriate to talk about him like that... Especially in public." Kurenai spluttered out. Tsume just gave her an 'are you daft, woman?!' stare and then got an evil grin.

"Ohhhh, I get it... You've been having fantasies too, eh Kurenai-chan...?" Tsume edged closer and poked a blushing Kurenai with her shoulder.

"N-no... How could I do that with Asuma..." Kurenai's will faltered under the evil all-knowing, canine bearing shit eating grin of the Inuzuka matriarch. "... Yes..."

"Haha!!! I knew it! Well don't feel embarrassed about it, there are several ladies around here that wanna do the same thing!" Kurenai cocked her head quizzically. "I mean, you can't talk about him while Yuugao-chan is around or she'll put her mask on... I've seen my daughter staring at him longer than what would legally be considered eye-humping... Teuchi-san's daughter has been flicking her bean to the guy for a while now, and I'm pretty sure Hinata has, well... I think she may have a shrine..."

"I think I see..."

"Damn straight! And now with him being a hero to the village, to EVERYONE, he's gone up several thousand ranks in hotness!" Tsume continued. "And I'm pretty sure he'd not care about your pup. In the good way, I mean. He won't care that you're HAVING one. There we go..." Tsume then lightly kicked her unconcsious son shrugged, and walked off. "I got business to take care of from earlier... Could you keep an eye on the hairball there? I'd ask Akamaru, but I think he wants to take a nap."

"Um, sure...?"

SOME RANDOM ROAD TO WAVE COUNTRY!!!

"Okay, the score is 356-235!"

"Menodokusai..."

"Ugh, this stuff is giving me a wedgie...!"

"HAH!!! 357-235!!!"

"Menodokusai..."

"... If it's so troublesome, then why do you keep playing?"

"Too troublesome to explain..."

"Fine, then we won't play rock-paper-scissors anymore. Hm... How about I-spy?"

"Menodokusai..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... So no I-spy then...?"

"..."

"... Got it."

"Hana, what the hell are you doing to ignore this?!"

"Do what?"

"Wha...? Earphones?! Hand 'em over woman! I can't stand much more of this!!!"

"Get your own!!!" *crash*

"Menodokusai..."

"Indeed, my man."

To be continued!

**AN:**AND that's a wrap! Well, for this chapter anyway. To be honest, I was debating on whether or not to have Naruto go "are we there yet?" eighty bazillion times there at the end, with the answers being "No." "No." "No." "Menodokusai..." "No." "HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW!?!? YOU'RE LEADING US THERE!!!"

Also, make sure to check out my original story, Scion's Grimoire when you get the chance. I think it's better than this. There's a link on my profile page. I'll update that when people review that one. In the meantime, REVIEW THIS 'UN!!!!

MK_Terra, out!


	6. Chapter 6: Detour?

**AN**: Jeepers gosh golly walnut sucking sideways spoon raping lily covered waffle irons, Fatman!!! This was a pain in teh ass!!!! WHAT are we gonna DoOoOoOoO?!?!

Well, we're gonna read it, of course. And by 'we' I mean you nerds. Yes you're nerds. You read fanfics. I'm _writing_ a fanfic… So I'm either a fanboy or super nerd. Your pick as to which.

Since I've got the space in this author's note, I'll take a moment to be a sellout to myself and describe my original story, Scion's Grimoire. It takes place in the far future, where magic and technology collide… Tens of thousands of years ago, way before the Soh-Nohs Empire's founding, there was a cataclysm that released Mana back into the universe in massive amounts. That was the Year **AC1** (2041 AD/CE (After death/ Common Era.) which stands for **A**fter **C**ataclysm. The current year is 1.1. (90,002 **S**oh-Nohs **S**tandard **D**esignation), or AC-96,456, or even more specifically 98,497 AD.

People have mutated from the exposure to the large concentrated amounts of Mana having been placed back into the universe from the original seal located on Avalon, linked to this dimension by the Babel Tower that was placed on Terra (Earth). The definition of human is much broader than it used to be. There are those who were altered by the Mana, and those altered by fellow man by genetic alteration surgeries… The Galaxy is on the brink of all out war again, and it's up to Albert and his allies to do what they can to stem the tide of war or even hopefully stop it before too many innocents lose their lives… And what of Rising Dusk…? What are they planning…?

Heheheh. I've had a lot of time to plan out Scion's Grimoire. It's the little in between events that I have the problems with. I have a lot of problems with that sometimes. I know where the story is going, but the how it gets there _e x a c t l y _is where the issue lies. Also, some encouraging reviews doesn't hurt either. The link to the story is on my profile page. Check it out, please!

Now, on to Leafen Rebellion. Just to let you know, there's been a time skip since the end of the last chapter where Naruto played Rock-Paper-Scissors with Shikamaru almost 600 times in a row. And no, it wasn't an Omake, though it's worthy of being one. However, Naruto got bored and started doing that, so it actually happens in the story. I DO keep Naruto in character, it's just that he's been so depressed, confused, and having a huge responsibility tossed on his shoulders like that will force anyone to be a bit more pensive and subdued.

A couple of you mentioned that Sai wasn't with the team when they left. I could say that I did that on purpose, but like the mistake I made where I had Tazuna meet with Danzo before Naruto even asked him to do so, I'll be able to manipulate the story to make it work. Yes, I DID screw up back there… Even though I didn't admit it. I just altered the original plotline a tad. I can do the same here, though I think this will be better than before.

I do not own Naruto, blah blah blah, corporate jargon, etc. Me no ownie.

Chapter 6: Detour

"…"

"Gomen, Sai-san. They left over 2 hours ago." A bored Kotetsu said. It was hard to tell, since the young ROOT double agent was still rediscovering his emotions, but the slight tick on his forehead suggested... Annoyance.

In the corner of his vision, he saw Izumo trying to juggle rocks with a look on his face that screamed boredom. Kotetsu on the other hand, pulled out a yo-yo and started doing tricks that would have blown Sai's mind, had he gave a flying fuck. Regardless he thanked the bored yo-yo ninja with a slightly improved smile that was much less creepy than when he was first introduced to Team 7. Could still make a baby cry with a glance though, so that's something. He quickly departed on an ink bird.

* * *

Somewhere on the Trade Roads

Our intrepid ninja squad being led by Naruto is mindlessly strolling along a roadway to Wave. Shikamaru was an overachiever in this task, and might as well have been sleepwalking. He turned and asked Naruto a legitimate question after several more minutes of silence.

"Hey, Naruto." Shikamaru said lazily. "Isn't Whirlpool before Wave?"

"Yeah, but we won't be stopping unless something comes up. There will be time for that later." He answered. "As much as I want to stop…"

"Hey, Naruto. I'll take Shikamaru and we'll take care of the bandits." Hana said. "You need as much time as possible to take care of whatever you need."

"Y-you… Really? Are you sure about this…?" Naruto asked, astonished. Shikamaru nodded and Hana smiled. "Well, if you really want to… We'll meet up at Whirlpool's capital, Uzunami. Remember to keep my parentage secret. If Iwa finds out, the Tsuchikage won't be able to keep all of his shinobi from trying to take revenge on me."

"Don't worry about it. We shouldn't have any reason to bring it up anyway." Shikamaru said in reassurance. "Just find out about your family and get it over with. Like you said, we'll meet up somewhere in Uzunami."

The group of four split into pairs and went their separate ways when they reached a fork in the road. Naruto and Anko took the road to Whirlpool while Shikamaru and Hana kept on truckin' towards Wave.

* * *

Naruto and Anko, 3 hours later

Naruto and Anko ran into a merchant caravan heading to Uzunami from another Whirlpool city. The two Konoha shinobi had to go on foot along the road, since the trees in Whirlpool are needle based instead of leaves. The branches are much more difficult to jump to and fro due to the density of branches and needles. Naruto noticed right away the traits of those that live in Whirlpool country, the most obvious being the red hair that everyone seemed to have. They offered their services as guards since they were going that way as it was, and were gladly accepted by the caravan head.

The samurai that were already guarding the caravan eyed the newcomers warily, looking for any deception. Finding none, they just ignored them, well, they ignored Naruto and eye humped Anko. However, an older, middle aged Samurai with more elaborate garb and armor was eyeing the spiral that Naruto had on the back of his sage cloak, in between the shoulder blades where his sword wasn't covering. Naruto felt this and went off to confront him.

"Hey, Old man! Why do you keep staring at me?" He asked, indignant.

"Hmph. I don't see any reason I should answer you, ninja." The elderly samurai responded. "Posing as one of the royal family… That would earn you jail time were they still in power!" Naruto was shocked.

"_This man must have been a royal guard… Maybe if I ask him about my mom, he'll open up!!!"_ Naruto thought.

"Hey, did you know a Kushina Uzumaki?" He asked. The man stiffened and his eyes widened. He then rushed forward and held Naruto up by the collar of his coat, anger blazing in his eyes.

"How do you know of Kushina-hime?!" He yelled. "TALK!!!"

"My mother." Naruto responded simply. The grip loosened, but then increased.

"Hah! She had no children. She died during the Kiri invasion, along with the rest of the royal family!" the samurai yelled, getting angrier. "I tried helping her escape! I would know!!!" The old man threw Naruto to the ground like a piece of trash.

"No. She lived… At least until I was born!" Naruto said. "And I don't need a withered up old fart like you telling me otherwise!"

"That's it, brat. I was going to let it slide, but it seems I'll just have to kick your ass!"

"Fine! I've been meaning to work off some steam anyway!!!"

Thankfully, they were far enough away from the caravan and any unwanted eavesdropping, so all the caravan members decided that the Blonde kid must have pissed the old samurai off and is gonna get his ass kicked. Anko knew that the old man stood no chance, so deciding to capitalize on the situation, she started placing bets. Funny how merchants have money to spend on stuff like that.

"Old man, don't underestimate me..."

"Hah, how good could a shinobi dressed like you actually be?" the old man laughed. "I've fought hundreds of opponents, including shinobi! All you guys are good at is hiding!" Naruto didn't say a word to that. He decided some shock value was in order... He drew his zanbatou and let gravity drop it to the ground, making a loud thud and leaving an impression in the ground, then hoisting it effortlessly onto his shoulder with one hand, his other hand occupied with sticking his pinky finger into the ear.

"Hmph. How a brat like you can even hold a blade that big is beyond me. I doubt you could even use it."

"Huh? Oh, I'm not gonna need it." Naruto responded, very Kakashi like. "Anko, would you come over here and hold on to this while I take care of this?" Shrugging, Anko walked over and took hold of the blade.

Apparently... A big sharpened block of metal can be heavy. And since Anko doesn't really rely on strength that much, she just kind of... Fell over. Cursing under her breath, she dragged it through the dirt, away from the combatants. The samurai then drew his sword at lighting speed in an effort to cut his opponent down, though the blonde shinobi's reflexes won out and was promptly elsewhere, away from the sharp pointy thing. Naruto then began hand signs for a water elemental technique at high speeds.

_"Good thing I practiced the hand signs as much as I did with the Kagebunshins."_ Naruto thought. The samurai recognized the signs and prepared to dodge accordingly.

"Water release: Water Bullet Technique!" He yelled, and shot a concentrated, high pressure water stream at the samurai. Being a fighter for so long, especially one from Whirlpool, the samurai was able to predict exactly when to dodge the incoming stream of water. When he saw the unfortunate tree behind his previous location, he was glad he moved when he did, since that knot just got a whole hell of a lot bigger.

Not missing a beat, Naruto was on the aged man with a formed Rasengan ready to strike from above. The man recognized this technique too, but was much more freaked out since the only man he'd seen use it before looked an awful lot like the blonde brat he was currently engaged in combat with. Things just got a lot worse for the swordsman.

"Rasengan!!!" was uttered from Naruto's mouth, and missed with his second technique, but altering the landscape yet some more. Recovering from his roll, the old man contemplated what he should do. The best option was pissing his hakama, curling up into the fetal position and screaming like the little bitch he was. He chose not to, however, and went for a vertical sword slash that Naruto simply stepped out of the way for.

_"Hm... Seems intimidation won't work, so I guess I'll just wear his ass out... Ok, that didn't sound right..." _Naruto thought. Naruto didn't want to hurt the old man, just put him in his place. The orignal plan was shock and awe, but that didn't work on him, so the blonde ninja decided to use his legendary stamina and simply outlast the old samurai in a contest of keep away.

"Well, you're pretty spry for your age!" Naruto yelled from his spot in the trees.

"What was that, you little son of a bitch?!" The old man yelled back. "I'm only 46, you dipshit!!!"

"Hah! You're only 4 years younger than my grandma!!!" Naruto yelled back, but felt his stomache clench. He had to throw the old man off of his game, make him waste energy.

Over to the side, one of the caravan members asked Anko who his grandmother was.

"She was his adoptive grandmother, in all but law and blood. She died recently from a backstabbing bastard during the destruction of Konoha last month." She explained. "His Baa-chan was Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

_"Though I have my suspicions that she really WAS his grandmother..."_ She thought to herself. She watched as Naruto's gambit played out. The guy was a Whirlpool born, that's for sure. _"His temper is about as bad as mine."_

The caravan watched the fight in awe. No one had ever been able to keep the man on his toes like the blonde kid in front of them. Now however, it seemed as if he were just simply trying to stay away from the 'dreaded sharp pointy thing' (katana, for those two idiots somewhere out there.) while making cracks about his age. This went on for a while, Naruto making fun of the samurai, leaving his spot promptly when the middle aged man got close enough to swing, and repeat for an hour.

"You... gotta... get.... tired sometime... you... brat..." The older man panted out. "And stop... moving... around... so... damn... much!!!"

"Hmmm.... Lemme think---no. I'm just getting in some dodging practice. I'm used to not being able to see my opponent swing, not what you're doing." Naruto cracked back. Truthfully, he was starting to get tired. Keyword, _starting_. The samurai was obviously good. Just not good enough. "Just give it up old man. If I really wanted to kick your ass, then I would have not missed with those techniques that I used when we first started. But when you're a red paste spread everywhere, it makes it kinda hard to ask you about my mom."

"Fine. I knew I didn't stand a chance against the Yellow Flash anyway." The old man said, sheathing his sword. "I thought he died a long time ago though. And didn't have those whisker marks."

"I'll tell you, if you tell me about my mother."

"I have no goddamn idea about your slut of a mother!" Wrong thing to say. Before he could think about what he just said, the old samurai was plowed into a nearby boulder at speeds that he couldn't even register, staring into a couple of the angriest eyes he had seen in a long ass time. Then the pain set in. "Ugh... What the hell?! *cough*" Naruto pulled a picture out from a pack with his free hand and held it in front of the samurai's face, glare never faltering. There, was Minato Namikaze holding an eight months pregnant Kushina Uzumaki with the biggest shit eating grin he could paste on. Kushina was grinning almost as widely.

"Th... That's..." He choked out. "I'm sorry." Naruto then dropped him, letting his hurting body ungracefully plop onto the dirt.

"Why." It was more of an order, not a question. "Why did you deny it so much?"

"I honestly thought Kushina-chan was dead. We all did. To have escaped to Konoha with Kiri's patrols would have been nothing short of a miracle..." The old man kneeled in front of Naruto in a postion for swearing fealty. "Allow me to make up for my mistake, Uzumaki-sama. My name is Kisei Hatakado. I was one of the royal guards in Whirlpool before Kiri attacked. I hereby swear my loyalty to you, as a Samurai of Whirlpool."

To be Continued!!!

AN: BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Who saw this coming? Anyone? Okaaaaay.... Anyway, is it just me, or does Minato somewhat resemble Stahn Aileron from Tales of Destiny from the front? Minus the Armor, of course. Or, a blue eyed version of Kyle Dunamis from Tales of Destiny II, (That's Tales of Eternia in the U.S., folks. Some mental retardation on Namco's part with the localizations, I s'pose.)


	7. Chapter 7: History Lesson

AN: MK here again, like usual. Sorry about the long wait, but I had trouble with this chapter. But, I'm really getting into this whole thing of writing fanfics. And I know that it isn't a fanfic, but still read it anyway, talking about Scion's Grimoire. I've recently added more to it, so it has more depth. It will be more epic than this fanfic, so keep an eye on it.

I have a little rant about "keeping someone in character". I was told in a review a while back that Naruto was "OOC" (but still liked the story anyway. Um, thanks?). I will rationalize and explain character in literary forms. Manga does not allow full portrayal of someone's full character due to the format. If they did, we wouldn't even be in Shippuden yet, since Manga takes a while to make progress with. This is especially the case with characters that have little limelight, like Keigo in Bleach. The way he's shown is One Dimensional. However, in the Anime, since there is more space to fill, he's shown as more than the hyperactive retard he normally is shown as. This is equivalent to being Two Dimensional. In novels, the longer it is, (or more books to the series and what have you) the more time one has to fully flesh out the character and not just show the obvious aspects all the time in an exaggerated fashion, like Naruto's obsession with Ramen, with becoming Hokage (he's the Shadow Hokage in this one… Shadow Fire Shadow, I s'pose. Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department!), his pranks, and other annoying attributes. However, in special cases this can be exaggerated since he is purposely putting on a mask of happiness. In the case of Bleach with Ichigo, how many people even remember that he's a fan of Shakespeare? In fan fics, I haven't seen many that have.

Anyway, the point of this little essay was on character development and depth. The Naruto I depict in this story, as well as the other characters will be more developed and less single minded in their behavior. This will be a relatively long fic, and therefore contain a lot of room for character development. Shorter ones get more leeway with that. Please keep this in mind when reading or writing fan fics! Thank you! XD

And yes, Kisei is an OC. But don't worry about the OC, I'm quite skilled at creating characters, so no need to worry about an stale character mucking the story up!

Chapter 7: Vassal/s…?

"Kisei Hatakado… You served my mother loyally and zealously, from what I can tell…" Naruto stated. "I'll take you up on your offer, but none of this Uzumaki-sama crap. Just call me Naruto."

"Yes, Uzuma--- I mean, Naruto-kun." Kisei answered. "I swear I will serve you to the best of my abilities. What is your first command?"

"Um, how 'bout we talk about my mom? I only know about my dad." Naruto answered. "We can talk about other things once we get to the capitol." Naruto then leaned a bit closer and said in a hushed voice: "you know to keep my parentage secret unless I say otherwise, correct?"

"Not a problem. I was planning on doing just that myself." Kisei responded, getting up.

"Thanks. I don't wanna cause any more trouble than I normally cause on a daily basis." Naruto said in his normal volume. Kisei chuckled at his new liege's reasons. They joined the caravan and it resumed its journey to the capitol, Uzunami.

"Your mother was quite a troublemaker herself… I remember chasing her around the palace trying to get her to take a bath when she was a small child!" Kisei recounted fondly. "That day, the Nidaime Hokage was having a formal dinner with your grandfather, and she burst into the dining room totally naked, running around and giggling. You should have seen the look of mortification on your grandfather's face!"

"What did the hokage do?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, he performed a water technique and washed her right there after I chased her around the table a few times..." Kisei answered. "He then burst out laughing when he saw the look on your mother's face!"

"Hahahaha! Was there anyone else there from Konoha?"

"There were three others… I think it was his students… Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and another wearing glasses. They were all laughing too. Eventually, your grandfather cracked up, seeing his precious daughter pouting with long wet hair drooped across her forehead." Kisei recounted. "I was only 12 at the time and in the middle of my bushido training. Keeping your mom acting semi-respectable was the hardest part of my training, and can't be topped by any task in the world."

"Then you've obviously never heard of Tora, the the wife of the Fire Daimyo's cat…" Naruto whispered, as if merely saying the name was taboo. "It _must_ be a demon cat, because I haven't heard of a normal one living as long as this one, or being as much of a pain in the ass… Nyehg…."

"No, but your mother was the spawn of a majin as a child." Kisei countered.

"… Touche."

"We didn't have a shinobi corps like that of Konoha's. Instead we had Samurai. Shinobi were rare and usually only the royal family had shinobi training to avoid capture, and even that was supplemented with bushido training."

"I see." Naruto said. "Did mom have that kind of training…?"

"Unfortunately for me, yes…" Kisei muttered. "Hyperactive demon-spawn brat… Well, I got good training from chasing her, anyway." Naruto stifled his laughter, but Kisei caught it and glared evilly.

"Eheh… Sorry, just reminds me of, well… Me." Naruto said sheepishly. Kisei raised an eyebrow for him to elaborate. "Erm… Well… Some of the elite shinobi in Konoha had trouble keeping up with my pranks… I even painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight!"

"Sounds like the hokage had his hands full."

"He did, but then he just started paying me for keeping the tracking skills of his forces up to par. Besides that, he found most of what I did hilarious."

"Most?"

"Well, he found all of it hilarious, but would put on this face of anger whenever anyone confronted him about it. He was bored out of his mind with paperwork, and a few reds thrown into the whites made for an interesting day at the Hyuuga compound." Naruto reminisced. "Truth be told, I think even the Hyuuga clan head chuckled a bit at seeing the Hyuuga elders in pink hakama, even though his was pink too."

"Your mother would have castrated you in public, and then given you candy in private, if what I remember of her is correct." Kisei stated dryly. "Your mother was just a brat, YOU however, are a Master of Disaster and deserve the title wholeheartedly!"

"Um… Thanks?"

With Anko

"So, how long until we reach the capitol, Tsuchiro-san?" Anko asked.

"Hm, my guess would be a couple days at this speed." The bored samurai responded. "Yeh, these fogeys are slow as hell, but it's worth it in the end to see SOME glory restored to Whirlpool, ne?"

"I s'pose." Anko half-answered/stated. "I don't know much 'bout Whirlpool other than what most of the elemental countries know about it in general."

"Hn? An' what would that be?" Tsuchiro asked, curious. Anko pointed to a small red-head child in a sack chasing a chicken while shouting expletives. "Shit. Was hoping you wouldn't notice that… Well, we aren't ALL like that. I wasn't born until after Whirlpool was reduced to its current state."

"Huh. How so?"

"It gets better the closer to Uzunami we get." Tsuchiro answered. "Not a LOT better, mind you, but we don't see any brats in sacks chasing chickens."

"So, do you know that old man over there?" Anko asked, changing the subject.

"Him? That's my sensei. We wander around, taking jobs to protect these types of convoys from bandits." He said. "Also, there is the current Daimyo to worry about."

"What? I thought Whirlpool didn't have a ruler."

"Officially, it doesn't." Tsuchiro explains. "He's supposed to be just a governor, but he calls himself the Daimyo and tries to run things like a despot, and the result is all of this chaos."

"Hm. Sounds like either an idiot or a jackass."

"Heh, try both. If he gets wind of Naruto-san over there, he'll be bound to do something about it." Anko laughs at this.

"Well, he can try whatever the hell he wants then, because blondie has support in high and low places." She responds. "And he's no pushover himself. He was just playing with your sensei the entire time." Tsuchiro's eyebrow rose in disbelief.

"I find that hard to believe. Hatakado-sensei is the strongest samurai I know, and his fight with Naruto-san lasted a while." He snorted.

"Yeah, but didn't you say the strongest 'samurai' that you know? Naruto-kun is probably the strongest living ninja in the elemental nations right now." Anko says. "Wait; did I just say 'Naruto-kun'…?" Tsuchiro nods.

"Shit."

Back with Naruto and Kisei:

"So, what are we gonna do, Naruto-kun?"

"Eh? 'Bout what?" Naruto asks back. Kisei sighs and runs his palm down his face.

"Whirlpool. What are we going to do about Whirlpool." Kisei stated more than asked. "What are we going to do with your country? The governor has bled this place almost dry, and I'm sick of it. The people are sick of it. But they've had no hope because all of our organized armed forces were either killed off or disbanded years ago."

"All…?" Naruto asks. "That can't be right."

"Well, give or take a few samurai that are wandering about that are still loyal to the Uzumaki family, more or less 95% of the original Whirlpool army is no longer in existence. I could track down what's left of the Royal Guard though, if you'd like."

"Sure. You could do that." Naruto answered. "What about the governor's army? I have no idea how strong it is."

"Last time I checked, it was around 5,000 men, the majority of which are rank-and-file spearmen. There are few cavalry, since Whirlpool doesn't have much open space for taking care of horses. I'm guessing that there's at least 300 Samurai, 100 of which are elites and probably 20 of them I've worked with at one point."

"Hm… Where were the majority of these soldiers trained?"

"My guess would be in Fire country, but with some possible restructuring when they were assigned to General Sagiri…" Kisei mused. "Oh, the bastard's full name is Kenjirou Sagiri, by the way. I forgot to tell you that. He's been called Ame no Sagiri because of his fighting style."

"Is he a shinobi?" Naruto asked.

"No, but he's had shinobi training."

"… I fail to note the difference…?"

"You do? Wait, was that phrased as a real question or a rhetorical one?"

"Smartass..." Naruto said, smacking his forehead. "Ok, so he's a Samurai with advanced shinobi training." Kisei nods in affirmation.

"Yes." Naruto gets a tick mark on his forehead at the simple response, and other things. Kisei found himself kissing a brick quite forcefully.

"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?!" Naruto yells.

"Hey, I just answered what you asked!" Kisei yelled back. "You should have been more specific to begin with!" Naruto was tempted to throw another random object in Kisei's direction, but settled for an evil glare with a sadistic smirk.

"I think I'll end up hating you in the next week…" Kisei said, walking away.

With the bandit hunting team:

"Troublesome… I knew we were forgetting something." Shikamaru muttered. "Sorry Sai, I guess you just aren't that memorable sometimes." Sai looked slightly irritated, but it was masked by his semi-fake smile.

"It is partially my fault. I was busy with keeping Danzo busy."

"Meh. It's in the past now." Shikamaru waves it off. "There's a camp located up ahead. Hana is in position to ambush them on the other side of it. We were going to perform a scissor ambush, but with you, we can do a delta strike."

"Of course. I will get into position immediately." Sai said before vanishing in a whorl of leaves. Shikamaru tapped his ear, a communication line crackling to life.

"_**Hana, seems we left Sai behind. He just arrived and I've changed the plan of attack."**_

He stated. _**"Switch to a delta strike. We attack from 3 sides now."**_

"_**Right. Sai, did you hear that over the line?"**_

"_**I was informed of the tactical change the moment I arrived. Do not worry, I am in position."**_

"_**Sorry… Hey, what about code names? I've never had one before, and I want one!"**_

"_**Troublesome… I don't care, pick them for us and let's attack before I fall asleep."**_

"_**Okay, I'll be Vixen, cuz it makes me sound sexy. Shika, you can be Deer."**_

"_**Sure. Works for me."**_

"_**And Sai, you'll be Man-Bra!"**_

"_**Man… Bra…? What is a man-bra?"**_

"_**Don't ask, Sai. It's too troublesome to explain."**_

_**"..."**_

To be continued...

AN: Damn, this one was hard. An' I don't even know why!!! Ugh. I hope I'm not getting writer's block. Like usual, Read and Review! ESPECIALLY review. I won't update until I get at least ten. Also, please check out my original story, Scion's Grimoire. It's in a total Novel form, so it will not have author's notes. You can find it most easily on my profile page with the other fics at the bottom of the page. I need some viewer traffic, man!


	8. Chapter 8: Secrets of Whirlpool

AN: Hello again, peeps! I'm still awaiting that flame that I asked for a while back, and even if it's not totally serious (Followed by a jk, or a REAL review) I want one! I've never been flamed before, and I want to be _buuuurned_…. Anyway, this might be the chapter that turns people away, or the next… Depends on when I get to what I'm thinking'll kill it… Meh. Oh well. On with the story!

Chapter 8: Secret of Whirlpool

The merchant caravan reached the outskirts of Uzunami, or as Kisei snorted, "New Uzunami". The sky was overcast, threatening to rain, but Kisei said it was like that quite often this time of year. Off in the distance, a massive storm on the coast to the northeast seemed to be cutting off the city from the rest of it.

"So gramps, what do we do now?" Naruto asked his senior retainer.

"We raise the palace." Kisei responded simply. Anko and Naruto exchanged confused glances, but shrugged and followed Hatakado anyway, in the direction of the massive storm. "When Uzunami was sacked by Water, Mist shinobi led the attack. Because of that, we lost, since our Samurai were no match for the Shinobi AND the armies of Water."

"I see… But what the hell does that little story have to do with raising a whole damn palace?!" Anko shouted.

"Patience, Anko-chan. I was getting there." He chided, to which Anko pouted angrily. "There was a reason that Water country attacked Whirlpool, and it wasn't for the economy, regardless of how good it was. Whirlpool's trade network was important to many other nations, and taking that would screw the whole system up. No, there was a different reason…"

"Where are you going with this, gramps…?" Naruto asked, getting impatient. Kisei didn't answer immediately, a serious and pensive look on his face as he led the two Leaf Shinobi up a staircase along with his apprentice. Naruto was about to yell to get his attention, but started examining his surroundings. _"So… This must be Old Uzunami, then."_

Old Uzu had a peculiar architecture, and the materials were different than what one would expect in the elemental countries. From what he could see, the buildings were made of a whitish-grey stone, and looked quite ancient. At one point, they were quite decorative and magnificent, but years of neglect and the ocean air had taken its toll on them. Ivy had also decided to make itself known, as well as many different mosses, barnacles in some places, and some other daring plants. If these buildings were made like the ones in New Uzu and the rest of the Elemental Countries, they most likely would have rotten away and the whole place would not be here at all.

"Tsuchiro-san…?" Naruto asks, his target pulling back to get closer to his liege (he took the oath already) and see what his problem was. "What kind of stone is this? And I've never seen these types of buildings before… Though they seem sort of familiar."

"I thought you would ask about that." Tsuchiro said. "The single blocks like the ones we're walking on are marble. Many of the streets and buildings are made of them too. The other stuff is white concrete from an ancient nation that shared some of its secrets here. It's much stronger and resilient than the concrete that's used in the rest of the world."

"And the buildings…?" Anko added. Tsuchiro shrugged.

"We don't know. They've always been here I've been told… I haven't even been told what it looks like within that storm over there. Hatakado-sensei will likely talk more about it once we get to the top of these stairs."

"Hm…" Not too long after Tsuchiro's explanation, the four reached the top of the worn marble stairs. Naruto glanced around, noticing only pedestal with an orb fused into the top in the center of the circular stone, ceiling less structure. He also noted the clear, unobstructed view of Old Uzu, along with the storm.

"So… Any ideas on why Water attacked Whirlpool?" Kisei asked, not really expecting an answer. The others shook their heads. Kisei hadn't even told his apprentice this. "The Mizukage."

"What?!" Naruto and Anko shouted.

"Yes, the Mizukage. I don't know whether it was the first or the second, but he convinced the Water Daimyo of something that is not generally known about Whirlpool's Royal Palace."

"What's so special about a damn palace that would make a shinobi village want to start war with a whole country?!" Anko shouted.

"Simple. The Whirlpool Palace is a giant weapon." Kisei stated, saying only the truth. "The palace is an ancient weapon that can be used to strike anywhere within a certain radius. The storm you see is its barrier from invaders."

"I-impossible…" Anko gasped. "Why would such a thing even exist…?"

"I don't know. I asked the same thing, but was told that it could have been a weapon to stop the Juubi before the Sage of the Six Paths dealt with it. Even your family did not know, Naruto-kun." Kisei explained, trying to figure it out himself. "But there are a number of chakra based weapons all over the palace grounds, making me wonder if it was a fortress of some sort. Your grandpa told me that at one point, it could even move about. Hell, it might still even be able to, but what could power it?"

"A bijuu, maybe." Naruto threw in.

"Maybe. But anyway, there's no way that your grandfather would have risked the palace falling into the wrong hands, and knowing the agenda of the Mizukage at the time, he realized there was no way that he could win. So, he activated the ultimate defense."

"What's the ultimate defence…?" Tsuchiro asked.

"It's two things." Kisei said. "The first is what you see over there, that massive storm that prevents anything from entering. The second, was to submerge the whole palace in the ocean."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoaaa….! How the hell are we going to raise that thing from the bottom of the ocean?!" Naruto exclaimed. Kisei merely smiled slyly and motioned to the pedestal that Naruto noticed from his earlier observations. "What is that thing anyway?"

"It's the external lock." Kisei said. "Your grandfather… When he sunk the palace, he evacuated the whole thing. Except… Himself."

"Wh… Why? That would have-"

"Exactly. He could only sink it from the inside. He sacrificed himself to protect the rest of the world from the palace's power. He _could_ have done it from outside, but there was no time to do that… And much of the enemy's forces were already inside, encroaching on the throne room, and the closest switch was there… I think you can figure out the rest."

"He sank the palace, with a foreign army inside…?" Anko muttered. "Even if they could swim, that storm would have trapped them inside… They would die no matter what happened… In the end, he won and lost at the same time…"

"Yes. He won the war, in a sense. Shortly after, the second Shinobi war started, and Konoha liberated Whirlpool from Water-- Mist had already pulled out due to their failure— and annexed it. And this is pretty much the result."

The two shinobi and other samurai were silent, contemplating the trials that this country had taken, and the significance of Uzunami Palace. Kisei walked back to the pedestal that he had wandered away from during his lecture.

"This stone here will only react to those with Uzumaki DNA." He said, motioning towards it again with his right hand. "This one won't raise the palace, but will drop the storm. It will allow us to enter the 30 square kilometers that the storm is covering."

"So, how do we raise the palace afterwards…?" Tsuchiro asked.

"That…" Kisei said. "I have no goddamn idea." The others sweatdrop.

"Hey, don't give me that look…!" He shouted back indignantly. "At least we'll be able to see the submerged palace! I'll see what I can figure out from there, but don't enter the water around the palace. The current is a lot stronger than you think, so even if you're a good swimmer, chances are you'll be killed." Naruto nodded.

"So, how do I use this…?" Naruto asked, staring at the sphere on the pedestal.

"See that little imperfection there, about the size of a spread hand?" Naruto nodded. "Good, cut your palm a little to draw some blood, place the hand on that spot, and channel some chakra into it in a clockwise rotating motion."

Naruto steeled himself before pulling out a kunai and making a shallow cut across the palm of his right hand; making sure there was a large enough flow that the Kyuubi wouldn't immediately heal it and screw up the process. Then, he placed his cut and bleeding palm on the circular indent on the sphere. It immediately lit up, green light flowing from the small space between the circle and the rest of the sphere.

"Excellent. That proves that you do have Uzumaki DNA in your blood. You have a special bloodline that I'll explain later, after we get more settled." Kisei said. "Now start channeling chakra into it, but don't remove your palm at all during the process."

Naruto nodded, focusing back on his current task. He called forth some chakra, and pushed it into his palm. The sphere on the pedestal immediately reacted by revealing more lines along its surface, and some of them running down the pedestal faintly. A hum could be heard, but nothing else happened.

"Naruto-kun, more chakra! It needs more chakra to operate! I'll let you know when to start rotating it instead of just forcing it in!" Kisei shouted over the strange hum. Naruto nodded once again.

Gathering more chakra, he started forcing it into the sphere in larger volumes. The Sphere changed by revealing more circles like the one just outside of his palm, glowing with a calm green just like before, and more lines running down the pedestal. Seeing that Kisei hadn't told him to stop, he put more into it, but was now starting to feel some fatigue. The device took a lot of chakra, apparently, to operate. Now the lines of glowing energy ran down to the ground, the whole shrine-like area revealing itself as being a whole device. The humming increased in volume, making Anko and Tsuchiro nervous that something bad was going to happen. The four then noticed a relatively audible thud. Kisei smiled.

"Okay, now start a-spinnin' it clockwise!!!" Kisei shouted ecstatically. "Increase your chakra flow as well!!!"

Doing as he was told, he started to emulate one of the stages of learning the Rasengan, but making the chakra go in one direction, all the while putting more chakra into the device. After a few seconds, Naruto heard a loud click, and noticed the circles were starting to spin, in order closest to his hand, outwards. Then the sphere sunk slightly into the pedestal, but not enough to lose his grip. With another click, a section of the pedestal closest to the top started to spin counterclockwise, and a few seconds later, another section did the same.

"This is going exactly the way it's supposed to…" Kisei muttered. "In a minute or two, that storm should clear up…"

By now, 8 small sections of the pedestal were spinning at high speed. A high pitched whirring noise was prevalent in the air, causing some discomfort to Naruto's ears. It was nothing he couldn't handle though, so shrugged it off and poured more chakra into the sphere, spinning it at even higher speeds. Within seconds, a large burst of energy was emitted in the shape of a beam from the sphere in the direction of the storm, knocking Naruto and the others on their asses unceremoniously. Almost immediately, the storm started breaking up, and the clouds that covered Uzunami started to disperse, allowing the sun to shine light on the ruins of the ancient city once again for the first time in almost 30 years.

To be Continued:

Aand that's a wrap. This one was a little hard to do, as it didn't have much in the way of dialogue like the other chapters, the descriptions were not combat based nor did they contain my favorite brand of humor that makes it much easier for me to write and keep the story from being boring. For a good idea of what I have Uzunami look like, think Ancient Roman, Greek, or medieval Byzantine cities with touches of feudal Japanese influence in the stonework. Like usual, read and review!


	9. Notice

Well, I hate to say this, but I'm putting this fic up for adoption. if you wanna adopt it, pm me and I'll see if your track record meets my standards.


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